Falcon's Flight
by bhriongloidrinceoir
Summary: We all meet many different people in our lifetimes. Alex experiences an unexpected meeting with his American pen pal, but has to fight the unnerving feeling that something strange is going on. With so many secrets will Alex be able to help his pen pal?
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1: Normalcy_

It was the beginning of another normal, American school day. Mrs. Duncan held up a stack of papers and her homeroom quieted down immediately. This was what they had all been looking forward to.

"Here are your new pen pals from our buddy school in England. They have been assigned to you by shared interests. I will call you up to get your pen pal's name and information," Mrs. Duncan announced and the class erupted into quiet chatter about their pen pals.

As Mrs. Duncan started to call her student forward, she watched them. She liked to see what each of the students was really like. Who was shy? Who was popular? It was interesting to watch. When she called one girl forward the whispers and stares increased. Jamie Falcon seemed to be a more awkward teenager. She was medium height and very thin, but it was hard to tell what she really looked like because she always wore ripped jeans, and baggy t-shirts with sweatshirts or boys button up shirts over top. Her hair was long and so dark brown it was almost black. Jamie's hair usually covered her face, but when she came to get her pen pal's information sheet Mrs. Duncan saw the intelligent and serious hazel eyes that hid beneath her hair. Mrs. Duncan realized Jamie would be a very pretty girl if she put some effort into it. "Here is the information on your pen pal, Jamie. I hope you have a good time with this."

"Thanks," replied Jamie and she returned to her desk. On the way to the back of the room one of the other students put out a leg to trip Jamie, but she just stepped over it and walked calmly over to her things and sat down. Mr. Duncan wondered why Jamie was the way she was. She seemed to be a polite and extremely intelligent student, but socially she was not up to par with the other students.

When the bell rang, the students all grabbed their books and papers and went off to the rest of their classes. "Have a good day everyone," called Mrs. Duncan over the burst of noise.

"You too," said Jamie with a small smile on her way out.

By the end of the day, Jamie was tired of listening to everyone go on and on about their new pen pals and what they were going to write in their first letter. Jamie wished she was part of some of the conversations until she caught the looks of the other students. She would never fit into their world. Jamie had not been invited to a party or friend's house since second grade when everyone realized her parents would not let her out of the house for anything except school. She had never been to a football game or a school dance either, those things were also taboo to her parents. She headed to her bus, walked to the very last seat and sat down. She pulled out her I-pod and did what she always did; convinced herself that she did not care what other people thought of her. This way she didn't have to deal with all of the drama everyone else always seemed to get caught up in. She was perfectly fine and she did not care about their dirty looks. Jamie turned up her I-pod and let herself sink into the music. This was her time of the day to relax and be herself.

The bus ride was all too short for her liking. Jamie disembarked and walked the two blocks to her house. She lived in a normal suburb. She nodded to the lady across the street as she headed up the driveway to the side door of her house. She let herself in and went through the kitchen to get something to drink. There was an interesting looking device on the counter, but she just ignored it. The less she knew the better she felt…sometimes. She traipsed upstairs to her room, threw her bag on the bed, and booted up her laptop. Her room was sparsely furnished. It had a nice bed, a desk, and a bureau, but not much else. There were a few movie posters and pictures of dream vacation spots she had found on the Internet. There were also drawings of people and landscapes that she had done herself and lots of books. From fantasy to academic material she had it all; it was her major touch to the room. She didn't feel awkward about having a plain room because the entire house wais plain. Sometimes it did not even look lived in.

Her computer chirped behind her and she clicked on the message that had popped up. "J. I need you to find this information and send it to me ASAP." The rest of the message contained the information about the information that needed to be found. It ended with a quick, "Love you, Mom." Jamie rolled her eyes and sighed. Since when did the child have to gather information for the parent? She logged onto the Internet, opened YouTube, and pulled up Word. She just wanted to write her letter to her English pen pal. Jamie pulled the paper out of her bag and took a good look at it for the first time that day. She stared at the picture of a fourteen-year-old boy with longer blond hair and serious brown eyes. He was cute she decided and her eyes slid over to his name, "Alex Rider". She was pretty sure she was the only girl in her class to get a boy as her pen pal. Jamie smirked as she thought of what the other girls would say if they knew she had a cute boy for her pen pal.

Jamie was about to search for the information her mother wanted when she found herself typing "Alex Rider" into the search box. When the results came up one site caught her eye. The article was in Arabic. If there was something about him on this site… maybe they had something in common, but that would just be so weird. She clicked on the site and was scanning it when her mother came in.

"Jamie, you had better be working on finding that information I asked you for. I need it now," she said. "Your father and I are working on an important project and we need the information tonight." Mrs. Falcon was not an old woman. She was in her early forties with straight, light brown hair and serious, green eyes. She surveyed the room and noticed the open website. "Oh! So you have been working…," Mrs. Falcon tapered off as she scanned the site. "What are you looking up?" her eyes flicked to the paper on Jamie's desk. "A pen pal?" she asked.

"They are assigned to us through school. I was just looking for information on him to help me start my letter," Jamie replied tiredly. "I really have a lot of homework tonight. Couldn't you or dad get this information without my help?"

Her mother looked at her with indignation. "You should be happy that your father and I include you in so many projects. Most children are only beginning their active involvement by your age and they would love to be in your position," her mother chastised. "I need that information by seven. That gives you plenty of time to find the information, finish your homework, and get ready for dinner. We are having company over tonight." Mrs. Falcon turned and left the room and headed down the stairs.

It took Jamie a minute to process what her mother had said. When she did, she ran out onto the landing. "Wait! By company, do you mean Dylan?" she asked.

Her mother turned. "Yes. So you had better find all of that information before he gets here." Her mother smiled and continued down the stairs to the kitchen. Jamie stood there for a moment and then headed back to her bedroom. She hadn't caused any problems lately. Why would Dylan be coming for dinner? Was he really going to simply be there to discuss the project her parents were working on? She almost had to laugh at herself for being so naive. Jamie sat back down at her computer, scanned the Arabic article one last time and worked on what her mother needed.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: The Project_

By seven Jamie had found all of the information her parents needed, but it had taken almost all of the time her mother had given her. She had changed out of her baggy school clothes and into a nicer pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Jamie smiled grimly at herself in the mirror. _"I'm so all american1"_ she thought. She grabbed the information from her printer and was heading down the stairs when the doorbell rang.

"Jamie, answer the door, please," called her mother from the kitchen. Jamie walked down the last few stairs. She was purposely taking her time and delaying this meeting for as long as she could. When she opened the door, Dylan was standing there looking down at her with a big grin on his face. He was extremely tall, probably six foot four. He was in decent shape and very tan. His blue eyes were just plain icy and they seemed to bore into Jamie.

"Hi, Jamie, it's been so long since I last saw you!" he exclaimed as he walked inside. He went to give Jamie a hug but she sidestepped him.

"I had been hoping it would be a longer time before I saw you again," Jamie said.

"Now, Jamie, be nice to your Uncle," her mother said as she came out of the kitchen. "Dylan, it is so nice to see you." Her mother and uncle hugged and headed into the kitchen. "Oh, Jamie, is that the information I need?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, here," Jamie replied shortly handing the papers to her mother who smiled and turned back to the kitchen. "Mom, is dad home yet?" Jamie asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Oh, no, he isn't. He must be stuck at work still," her mother mused unconcernedly. "Dylan, how about you have a seat and dinner will be ready in just about two seconds. Jamie, come get these dishes and put them out."

Jamie grabbed the dishes and silverware and put them at the proper places. Her mother brought over a large bowl of delicious smelling stew and they all sat down. Jamie sat on one side of the table, her mother and Dylan on the other; like always it was her against everyone else. Jamie ate her food quietly and listened to Dylan and her mother talk about mundane things like work and the news. Suddenly Dylan turned to her.

"So what is this I hear about an interesting new pen pal?" he asked. Jamie couldn't believe he knew already. Her mother hadn't said anything about it while she had been sitting there and Jamie herself had not brought it up. Her mother must have told him about it over the phone before he came over.

"It's just something the school assigns to the ninth graders every year. It's nothing special," Jamie replied nonchalantly.

"Did you find anything interesting on that website you were on?" her mother asked.

"No. I didn't have much time because I had to do your research for you," Jamie replied shortly. She was getting seriously annoyed by how superior all the adults in her home life seemed to be. They just had to poke their noses into everything she did or said.

"Well. Now that you seem to be finished eating you can go back to your computer and find out everything about your pen pal. From what classes he is taking to what he likes to eat!" said Dylan. "We all know how wonderful you are with computers. You can find out almost anything!"

Jamie did not like the way this compliment was going. "I think I'll just write a nice, mundane letter asking him for the sort of information pen pals are supposed to ask for," she snapped at Dylan. With that she got up and headed towards the stairs. Dylan followed her to the bottom of the stairs.

"You know, I think I have heard the name Alex Rider before. How about you do a deep background check on this English school boy," he suggested slyly.

"No. I am perfectly fine doing things my way," she replied and continued on her way up the stairs.

"Just make sure you don't tire yourself out too much doing all of that homework! I want to have a little chat with you when your mother and I are done talking," he called up to her. Jamie pretended to not hear him and she stopped herself from cringing as she went into her room. She hated Dylan. Hated him with every ounce of her being. She didn't care that he was her uncle. There was just something _wrong_ with him. Jamie went straight over to her computer when she got to her room and worked on her homework. She really needed to get all of her work done, not that it would actually take her that long. She was practically a genius. She knew numerous languages and was fluent in almost all of them. Jamie just made sure that the students in her school didn't realize how smart she was. She would spend her time checking her homework so that it would be almost perfect. That was really what took her such a long time. She had just finished her last item of homework when she heard Dylan coming up the stairs.

Dylan poked his head in her room. "Let's go have a little chat," he said with a grin on his face. Jamie walked past him and headed down the hall to the room at the back of the house. Dylan followed her and closed the door behind him. They were in a very empty room. There was a rug and a covered window but that was about it. It was a bare, cold room, meant to intimidate anyone who entered it. As far as Jamie knew, she was the only person to ever come into the room.

"What is this about?" she demanded. "I have not done anything wrong. I haven't been rude and I have done everything everyone has told me to do."

"You call this being polite?" Dylan asked, as he leaned against he wall. He was watching her the way a lion watches a gazelle. Jamie did her best to act like it did not bother her at all. He thrived off knowing he was in control and she was not going to give him that satisfaction tonight. She was tired of him. She was tired of just about everything at the moment and she wanted to beat the crap right out of him.

"We just want to be sure that you will do as you are told in the future as well. We have noticed that you have been being especially good lately, but that may just mean you are waiting for the right time to backfire," Dylan suggested.

"Who the heck is the all encompassing "we"? Is it you and my parents or someone from your little group?" she asked. Since she was usually a mute once she entered this room her banter was an unwelcome addition in Dylan's mind and Jamie was enjoying his trepidation. Dylan started to pace slowly in front of her, effectively blocking the door and her only way out of the room.

"Your mother had to look up some of our information today?" he asked. Jamie just stood there and stared at him because she knew he already knew that answer. "Have you figured out what is going on yet?" he asked.

"Something big," she replied. The longer she kept him talking, the better for her. "You had me looking up where the largest connection of water pipes is under London and you needed some heavy explosives, but I thought there were other people who were better at that sort of stuff than I am."

"Maybe, but for this project we decided you would be the best person to have on hand. You had better listen to your mother and I when we get into this middle of this project and do as you are told," he said. He had been advancing on her the whole time.

"What if I just go into school tomorrow and tell the principle what type of home life I have? Or how about I tell her about all of the things you have me work on besides my homework?" Jamie taunted. She knew she was going to get it, but tonight she was feeling prepared, like she would actually be able to hold her own for once. She was not prepared for Dylan to come at her and punch her in the side of the head.

"If you even THINK of doing something like that, it will be the last thought you ever have," Dylan spat at her. "We have been extremely nice to you on your mother's behalf, but if you do anything to compromise this project or this group I will finally get my way with you." Jamie rubbed her head where his fist had made contact. She stood up angrily.

"You have been _nice _to me?" she demanded. "You've used me in more ways than I can count and you call _that_ being _nice?" _She ran at him and managed to slap him across the face before he moved completely out of the way. "Someone else needs to remember to stay alert," she added in a mocking tone towards him. Dylan snarled and attacked her. Jamie did her best to block his most harmful blows, using all of her training to protect herself from the person who had trained her. She managed to kick him in the stomach, which forced him to back off for a few seconds. When she looked in his face she saw that he had not been expecting much of a fight.

Jamie used Dylan's momentary weakness to go in for another attack. She went at him but ended up being tossed over his back and into the wall. She lay there dazed as Dylan loomed over her.

"You are just too impulsive, Jamie," Dylan reprimanded as if this were a lesson. "You just do not know when your opponent has the upper hand and when you should back off."

"Maybe that is because I had a crappy teacher," she managed. Dylan swooped down on her, grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground. Jamie tried to pry his fingers from her neck but he was too strong for her.

"You had better remember _everything_ you have ever been taught, Miss Jamie because if you slip up, this will seem like a small bruise," he said. Jamie was already seeing black spots in front of her eyes when Dylan whacked her head into the wall. He released her neck and Jamie slumped to the floor, completely unconscious.

Dylan took one last look and Jamie, wiped his bloody nose and left the room. It was time to begin phase two and there was no time for him to be messing around with teenage girls. He smiled. She just better remember what he had said because he was not in the mood for forgiveness. This project was worth too much to him and the people he represented. He said goodbye to Mrs. Falcon and headed to his next appointment to set the stage for the next act.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: The Move_

It was early morning when Jamie started to come to. She blinked slowly until her eyes were accustomed to the light in the room. When Jamie tried to push herself up she almost passed out again as a sharp pain shot up her right arm. She lay back down and waited for her head to stop spinning before she slowly rolled over and used her other arm to push herself up. She checked herself over to make sure that there were no other broken bones. When she touched the back of her head, she winced. Her head was extremely sore and there was some blood on her hand when she looked at it. Jamie sighed. She should have known better than to try to take Dylan without back up. She sat still for a little longer and then slowly stood up and headed towards her bathroom, which was, thankfully, just a few steps down the hall. Jamie washed her hands, carefully because of her wrist, and then tried to clean the back of her head. She found her wrist brace in the closet and slipped it on so that she would not do anything to agitate her wrist again.

Jamie went back to her bedroom, looked at the clock and nearly panicked… until she realized it was a Saturday and she was not supposed to be in school. She pulled out some fresh clothing and gingerly changed. It seemed that every move she made reminded her of her trial of the night before. She was almost surprised, sometimes, when she actually woke up the next morning after some of Dylan's "little talks". She really could not wait until she was good enough to kick his butt for once. When Jamie finished getting changed, she went down into the kitchen where her mother was making coffee.

"Did dad ever come home last night?" Jamie asked as she rooted through the cupboard in search of her favorite cereal.

"No, he did not," her mother replied tersely. Jamie looked up in surprise because her mother almost never showed any form of emotion.

"Is something going on?" Jamie asked tentatively. She was still sore from Dylan and did not want to give her mother a reason to think she was being pertinent.

"We will find out soon, I hope," her mother replied. "There was a call this morning; I'm surprised you didn't hear it."

Jamie just shrugged her shoulders.

"The night guard never saw your father check out last night and when they looked this morning his office had been ransacked…." Her mother trailed off.

"And you haven't heard from him today?" Jamie asked quietly. She was never really sure whether to trust her mother or not, she just got that sort of feeling this time.

"Obviously not or I wouldn't be this darn worried!" her mother yelled. Then her face softened. "I'm sorry honey, I'm just scared."

"It's alright," Jamie said. She grabbed a bowl and sat down at the table with her cereal. "So Dylan left?"

"Yes, he had some important work to do," her mother replied.

"Does he know dad is missing?" Jamie asked innocently. Her father and uncle worked together; if one of them was missing the other would know about it, Jamie was positive. Her mother ignored her question, making Jamie even more suspicious. Breakfast was very quiet because Jamie and her mother really didn't have anything to talk about. When Jamie finished she went back to her room and continued working on her homework. After a little while she pulled out her sketch book instead. She took her pencil and just kind of let her hand go. When she looked at what she had sketched it was a picture of Dylan. It was the way he looked when it was just the two of them in the room. She shook herself and put the book away.

The phone rang after a while and Jamie heard her mother answer it. After a brief, but frantic conversation her mother came upstairs.

"The police found evidence that your father was taken to England this morning. We have to pack and take the next flight over there so that we can assist in the investigation," her mother said quickly. "Pack as quickly as you can and meet me out by the car." Jamie watched her mother dash out of the room and begin packing. Jamie sat there for another moment and then dragged her suitcase from under her bed.

It did not take either of them to gather some clothing and drive to the airport. Soon they were on a flight to London with Jamie sitting in the window seat next to her mother and Dylan. Jamie stared out the window and wondered what was going to happen next in her very strange life situation.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: New Acquaintances_

When they arrived in London, Jamie couldn't help but enjoy all of the new and interesting sights. This was really the first time she had ever traveled away from home, but her mother and Dylan ushered her quickly to where they had to pick up their luggage and then Jamie and her mother had to find their escort. Dylan pecked her mother on the cheek and headed off to find a taxi. Jamie wondered at this sign of affection, but did not bother to ask. When they entered the Arrivals area, they immediately began searching for a name card.

"Mom, that's us, over there!" Jamie called over the noise of the crowd. Her mother motioned for Jamie to lead the way and they fought their way across the room with their suitcases in tow.

"Hello," Jamie's mother said as they reached the man holding their name card. "I am Aisha Falcon and this is my daughter Jamie." The man holding the card looked like Jamie expected someone from the government to look. He had on a dark suit and he had a secretive air about him.

"I will need to see your identification first, please," he asked holding out his hand for their passports. Jamie got the passports out of her backpack and handed them over. The man scrutinized both of them and then handed them back. "If you will follow me, I will take you to your next destination." With that the man turned and headed out of the terminal. He led them to a black car and helped put their things in the trunk. Jamie and her mother got into the back seat, the man got in the driver's seat and they were off.

As they drove, Jamie leaned against the window trying to see as much of London as possible. Even though it looked like a city in America, there was something special about all of these buildings being in another country. When she looked over, she saw her mother sitting up in her seat properly and seeming very alert. There was something bothering her, but Jamie had no idea what that could be. Before too long the car slowed down and dropped them off in front of a normal looking office building.

"This is where I leave you for now," the man said, turning in his seat. "If you go to the desk they will tell you where to go next. I will take your bags to your hotel." With that Jamie and her mother got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk facing the building.

"I think we are in the wrong place," her mother said quickly. Jamie looked around; soon she found a sign that read "The Royal and General Bank".

"Where are we supposed to be?" she asked. She was pretty sure she had read about this bank somewhere before.

"They were supposed to take us to meet with MI6. They are the ones in charge of finding your father now that we are on British soil," her mother still sounded worried and was looking around as if waiting for an ambush.

Just then it clicked. "Mom," Jamie whispered. "This is MI6." And with that Jamie headed towards the front door. She had just found this information the day before in with the other information her mother had asked for. Her mother followed and the two of them found themselves in a beautiful lobby. They went over to the front desk where a young woman was sitting.

"Hello," Mrs. Falcon said calmly. "I am Aisha Falcon and this is my daughter Jamie. We are here to meet with a Mrs. Jones."

The young woman pulled something up on the computer screen in front of her then looked up at Jamie and her mother and smiled. "Yes. Mrs. Jones will be with you shortly. Please, have a seat and relax." The woman had indicated some chairs over to one side and Jamie and her mother took a seat.

"Is dad's disappearance really so bad that they had to involve the British secret service?" Jamie asked her mother in hushed tones.

Her mother looked at her quickly. "They seem to believe that this is the best choice for finding him quickly."

"Is he supposed to be found?" Jamie knew she was treading on thin ice at this point, but was sure her mother would not do anything horrible in public.

"Of course he is!" her mother said forcefully. Jamie dropped the subject and leaned back in her chair. She was about to get out her sketchpad when she noticed the elevator doors open and a woman walked out and headed towards them.

The woman was wearing a fitted, black suit with a plain silver chain around her neck. Jamie noticed the sharp, determined look in the woman's eyes from across the room. This was not someone that she wanted to make angry.

"Hello. I take it you are Mrs. Aisha Falcon and her daughter Jamie?" the woman asked, but Jamie was sure the woman already knew who they were.

"Yes, we are. Are you Mrs. Jones?" Jamie's mother asked.

The woman made a quick nod. "Yes. If you will follow me, we will go to my office." With that Mrs. Jones turned and headed towards the elevator. Even though her mother hesitated, Jamie followed Mrs. Jones; no matter what happened nothing could get any worse. The ride in the elevator was silent. Jamie was having a hard time figuring out whether Mrs. Jones actually needed to breathe, that's how quiet the woman was. Jamie rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly because it was getting sore; she had not had a chance to take anything for it since they arrived in England. When the elevator doors slid open Jamie and her mother followed Mrs. Jones down the hallway and into a regular looking office. As Jamie looked around she noticed what was not normal about the room. There was nothing to tell her about the type of person who worked here. There were no pictures on the desk or on the walls and everything was too clean and organized. She shivered in the emptiness of the room. The man behind the desk did not even look up as the door closed.

"Please have a seat," the man said as he finally looked up from the papers on his desk. "I am Mr. Blunt. I see that you have already met my deputy, Mrs. Jones. We are heading the case of your husband's disappearance because of the height of the threat of international security."

Jamie was completely intrigued by this man. She had always been extremely good at reading people's expressions and body language, but this man gave absolutely nothing away. She kept one ear on the conversation, but let her eyes wander around the room and over to the deputy, Mrs. Jones. Jamie noticed almost the same lack of emotion in Mrs. Jones, but she seemed slightly more human than Mr. Blunt, but that could have been because she was looking at Jamie's hurt wrist curiously. Jamie pulled the sleeve of her shirt down over the brace.

"Now, you mentioned that you were worried about your daughter's safety?" Mr. Blunt questioned. Jamie turned her full attention to her mother, though she hid the complete surprise this comment had given her.

"Yes. She is our only child and I am afraid that someone may try to use her as a hostage to get something from me or my husband," replied Mrs. Falcon in a teary voice. She put a hand on Jamie's arm, but Jamie removed her arm from her mother's grasp quickly.

"Well, your concern seems to be fairly well founded because of your husband's disappearance so we have called in one of our very accomplished people to help watch over her," replied Mr. Blunt, nodding his head towards the door. Mrs. Jones got up and opened the door, allowing the other agent to come in. Jamie turned in her chair and stopped in surprise as she glimpsed this other "agent".

"Mrs. Falcon, Jamie, this is our agent, Alex Rider," said Mr. Blunt from behind the desk. Alex stopped and stared in much the same way as Jamie. Mrs. Falcon noticed the unnatural stillness of the two teenagers.

"Jamie, do you know this boy?" her mother questioned hesitantly.

"He's… he's my new pen pal… but," Jamie was at a loss for words. Fortunately Alex was not.

"You set this up!" he accused Mr. Blunt. "Did you make sure we got each other as school pen pals?" Alex had moved closer to the desk while making his demands.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," replied Mr. Blunt with no reaction to having a teenage boy yelling at him. He turned back to Mrs. Falcon. "Alex is perfect for watching over Jamie because they are of a similar age. Now, I would like to discuss a few more points with you, Mrs. Falcon, while Alex shows Jamie around. I think that Mr. Smithers has something for both of them." With that Mr. Blunt nodded towards the door and Alex, after giving Mr. Blunt a glare, got up and headed towards the door. Jamie, realizing the decision had been made, got up to follow.

"Wait," Mrs. Falcon said. "I would rather have Jamie with me for this discussion."

"Mom, you said you wanted me protected, let these people do their job. I'll see you later," Jamie turned and followed Alex out into the hallway, closing the door between her and her mother.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"Sorry about that, I was surprised by what was going on. I'm Alex," he extended his hand to Jamie formally.

"Jamie, and sorry about my mother, she's kind of … clingy," Jamie shrugged her shoulders and shook his hand. "So where are we going?"

"Just a few doors down to visit Mr. Smithers. He's actually one of the more honest people you'll meet around here," said Alex as he led the way down the corridor. Jamie smiled and followed.

"How did you get involved in MI6?" she asked.

Alex paused. "It's a long story. Basically, they made an offer that I couldn't resist," he said sarcastically.

"Ahh. Of course, the 'we're giving you a choice but there is really only one option', don't you just love those?" she asked. From the look Alex gave her, she felt they could probably understand each other better than most people. They walked in silence for a little bit. Soon they arrived at a plain looking door.

"Welcome to the gadget department," said Alex as he opened the door.

"Gadgets?" Jamie repeated as she followed him into a very ordinary looking room.

"Hello there! Alex, is that you? I think you've grown again. And who is this lovely lady?" asked the large man behind the desk.

"Mr. Smithers this is Jamie Falcon," introduced Alex, nodding to both parties.

"Ah, a sad case that is. Any word from your father's kidnappers?" asked Mr. Smithers in a genuinely concerned voice.

"No, but I don't think that is completely odd. It's so easy to trace phone calls these days," she replied coming over to the desk and sitting in one of the chairs. Mr. Smithers gave her and interested look.

"That is true, but we are finding many ways to prevent those sorts of things from happening," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "But now we must move onto more pressing matters, like making sure that you two can stay in touch and out of harm's way." Mr. Smithers typed a combination into his computer and sat back as if to wait for something.

Jamie looked at Alex who just shrugged and looked around the room. Jamie was getting the feeling that there was definitely more to this room than met the eye. Suddenly the back closet door lifted like a garage door and there was a rolling cart sitting in there. Jamie wished she could have a chance to look around and find all of the other gadgets and inventions hiding in this room. Smithers caught the look of interest in Jamie's eyes. "You will have to come back sometime and see some of my most interesting inventions," he said.

"That sounds like fun," said Jamie as she got up to look at what had come up through what she believed to be an elevator. Alex and Mr. Smithers followed right behind her.

"Now, since we could be dealing with some higher level terrorists, we needed some really sneaky gadgets this time," said Mr. Smithers.

"When have your gadgets not been sneaky, Mr. Smithers?" asked Alex with a laugh. Turning to Jamie he added, "You should see some of the stuff he has given me in the past, it is pretty amazing."

"Well," said a blushing Mr. Smithers. "Now here we have something I am sure the two of you are very familiar with." He held out two sports watches that seemed to have more buttons than there should be functions. Jamie and Alex each took one. Jamie looked hers over.

"Doesn't look like anything special to me," she said looking up at Mr. Smithers. "But I'm guessing that is what you want people to think."

Mr. Smithers smiled. "Right you are. This watch not only tells time but is also a distress signal and a communication device."

"Does the communication device work on this one?" Alex asked with a sarcastic tone that made Mr. Smithers cringe. Jamie was going to have to ask about that experience.

"Yes, it all works. To communicate between the two watches all you have to do is press and hold the "A" button on the top right and talk into it. You will be able to communicate with each other very easily with these whenever you need to talk. Also, there is a bright flashlight in these, which can be turned on by pressing buttons "C" and "D" together. The "B" button locks all of the interesting functions so that no one but either of you will be able to use them." When the two teens gave him interested looks he continued, "They are fingerprint sensitive, only you two will be able to use these." Jamie looked at her watch with new enthusiasm. Mr. Smithers continued.

"To contact us in case you want to have a nice little chat," said Mr. Smithers with a grin, "just press and hold the "D" button by itself. Pressing and holding the "C" button will send a distress signal to us directly."

"That is a heck of a lot to stuff into one little watch," said Jamie as she put the watch on her right wrist, since her left was all wrapped up. Alex noticed her struggling with the watchstrap.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked.

"Nope, I'm good," replied Jamie as she succeeded in getting the watch on.

"Anything else Mr. Smithers?" Alex asked, looking pointedly at the cart.

Smithers laughed. "Of course, here is some gum, you should remember this, Alex."

"This is the amazing exploding gum, right?" said Alex happily.

"Right you are! Just chew for 30 seconds, or until soft and then put your gum where ever you want a hole."

"That is amazing!" exclaimed Jamie. "How did you come up with that idea?"

"Having teenagers working in our office grants me many opportunities to think outside the box," replied Smithers, who seemed pleased with her enthusiasm. Jamie looked over the gum packet thoroughly before pocketing it.

"One last thing," said Smithers, holding up a silver, crescent moon necklace. The crescent moon had some beautiful, but minute carving done into it. It was gorgeous. "This is for you miss Jamie; however, looking at your wardrobe, I think it may look better on this." Smithers held up a black ribbon with a clasp on it instead of the silver chain the charm was currently hanging on. He quickly strung the charm onto the black ribbon as Jamie reached out and gently took the necklace, like she expected it to explode.

"What does it do?" she asked, still looking over every inch of the necklace.

"It's a miniature camera, so we can see what is going on around you and make sure you are not in any trouble," Smithers answered, looking her straight in the eye. Alex was getting the weird sense that Jamie was not used to a lot of attention being directed towards her. Smithers continued, "Once you put the clasp together the camera will begin transmitting to us. There is nothing on it to give away its real purpose." Jamie looked at the necklace, then up at Smithers.

"Thank you," she said.

"Anything else?" asked Alex, looking once again at the tray.

Smithers smiled. "No, my dear boy, that is all I have for you today. By the way, you two should probably head back to the lobby or Mrs. Falcon may think I kidnapped you!" Smithers held the door open for the two of them. "Alex, you better look after this young lady. I do hope I see both of you again soon."

"I will Mr. Smithers," replied Alex.

They had walked a little ways down the hall before Jamie said anything. "I like him."

"Me too," answered Alex, watching Jamie play with her new necklace.

"Is he always so happy?"

"Yeah," Alex answered. "That's the best thing about him." Jamie nodded, still playing with her new necklace. "Why don't you put that on?" Alex asked.

"Because then my mom will want to know where it came from and what it does and I think it would be better if fewer people know what it actually does, don't you?" she looked him straight in the eyes. Alex got the strange sensation that there was more to this situation than she was letting on.

"Yeah, I guess that is a good idea," he agreed. Then added, "But then how are you going to get around to wearing it?"

Jamie shrugged. "I'll see if I can talk my mom into taking me shopping later. If she says no, I'll just have to come up with plan B."

Alex looked at her. "I guess that sounds like a good idea." They had come to the lobby in the bank.

"So, if you need anything, just call," Alex said raising his wrist a little. Jamie smiled, but it disappeared quickly.

"Jamie! There you are," Mrs. Falcon had just gotten off the elevator. "I was getting worried when you did not come back to the office."

Jamie shook her head. "C'mon mom. We are here for protection, nothing bad is gonna happen."

"Well," Mrs. Falcon looked Alex over. "It is time for us to head to our hotel anyway. Come on Jamie." Her mother reached out to take Jamie's arm, but Jamie side-stepped her.

"It was nice meeting you, Alex," Jamie said, holding out her hand. Alex shook it.

"It was nice to meet you too," he replied. "And I hope I'll see you again."

Jamie smiled a small smile and then followed her mother out of the MI6 headquarters.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"They believed you? Are you positive?" Dylan asked Aisha forcefully.

"Yes. They seemed quite sincere and willing to help; especially with our fear of Jamie being targeted," Aisha Falcon replied. "They even gave her her own bodyguard."

"He is _not_ my bodyguard," replied Jamie from her perch in the windowsill across the hotel room. It was later in the day. Jamie had talked her mother into going through some street vendors where she "bought" her new crescent moon necklace, which was hanging from its black ribbon around her neck as they spoke. After checking into the hotel, Aisha had called Dylan and he had decided that they should have a meeting at the hotel room as quickly as possible.

Now Aisha and Dylan were talking about the meeting with Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones while Jamie tried not to look too interested. How she wished she was outside running around in the park with normal people at that moment.

"Who is your bodyguard?" asked Dylan. Jamie looked at him long enough to catch the malicious glint in his eyes.

"He is not my bodyguard," she reiterated forcefully in his direction.

"His name is Alex Rider," her mother interjected.

"Good!" exclaimed Dylan and before she could stop herself Jamie gave him a questioning look. "Ah, you don't know about him, do you little Jamie? He has been a pain in many of our peoples' sides for some time now."

"Why?" Jamie couldn't help expressing her curiosity.

"Jamie, please tell me you have been paying attention to Scorpia's failed attempts these past few months?" Dylan taunted her. That was when Jamie remembered the Arabic article she had discovered just days ago that mentioned a teenage by who had a price on his head for destroying one of the largest terrorist organizations in the world.

"He's the one who did all of that? He completely destroyed Scorpia?" Jamie let the shock and surprise read on her face and in her voice. "Well, then you really do have your work cut out for you."

Dylan stopped and turned to her. "Excuse me?"

"Well, if one teenage boy can destroy all of Scorpia do you really think you stand a chance? I mean, compared to them your one small fish in the sea," she said. She knew she would pay for being so bold later, but the effect on Dylan was worth it for then.

"You think I would let someone your age beat me?" Dylan was right in her face, but Jamie refused to back away. Then Dylan smiled. "That's why we have you to play decoy."

"I told you, I don't want to be part of your crazy schemes. Not now, not ever," Jamie said.

"Well it's a good thing you have no choice in the matter then," sneered Dylan. "What would you tell your new friend Alex? No one would believe you."

Jamie got up from the windowsill, grabbed her messenger bag and strode to the door, but her mother was blocking her way.

"Where do you think you are going?" her mother demanded.

"Outside, to get some fresh air," Jamie replied in a clipped voice. "I am not going to tell anyone anything, don't worry." Dylan must have nodded behind her because her mother let her through the door and Jamie left the room as quickly as she could.

She had always known this day would come, especially once she had figured out what her parents actually did for a living. She should have been able to guess sooner, what with all of her training and everything. What other family in the world speaks almost every language? Or stresses the importance of weapons handling?

Jamie was sitting out in one of the parks under a tree, letting her thoughts just wash over her. Her drawing pad was on her lap, but nothing would come.

Why did she have to live in a family of crazy people?

She flipped back through her pad to the picture she had drawn when she had figured out what her parents really were and what they were training her to be. It was in pencil, her favorite medium, laid out in black and white, the way she wished more things in her life were laid out. The picture was of a farm, with American flags sprouting out of the ground instead of crops. In and among the flags were bombs, growing like weeds. Bombs and guns. Who said that terrorists had to come from Middle Eastern countries? They could be just like any other American. Her own parents were of the home-grown variety. Just proves that people everywhere are crazy. Her parents enjoyed the idea of spreading pain and destruction throughout the United States and any of its allied countries, but she hated it. She had no reason to hate America or any other country for that matter. She did not want to be a terrorist like them, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

Jamie couldn't believe that they wanted her to keep Alex out of their way, and then she realized the opposite. Dylan didn't want to get caught by MI6, but taking out the operative that had destroyed Scorpia would move him up the ladder quite a bit. But where could she go with the information that her family was planning some sort of terrorist attack in London? The police? MI6? Alex? No. Like Dylan had pointed out, no one would believe her anyway. Jamie realized that like all the other times in her life, she was completely alone. There was no one she could trust.

Jamie looked around the park. It was a beautiful day and there she was, dwelling on the dark thoughts of her family. Better to try to think about them as little as possible. Jamie flipped to a clean sheet of paper and began to sketch.


	7. Chapter 7

"Welcome to your new work station," said Dylan as he pushed Jamie into a room in a warehouse-like building just outside of London. It was the next afternoon and though she had tried desperately to avoid going anywhere with Dylan he had won out. Jamie looked around the room and saw a bank of computers all hooked up to one another along one wall, and some other monitors along the other walls. There was also a key pad on the inside of the door, and she didn't know the combination.

"What part of "no" don't you understand?" exclaimed Jamie and then she cringed in pain when Dylan grabbed her by the back of the neck.

"The part where you keep on saying it," he spat and then he pushed her away from him, causing her to stumble into one of the chairs in front of the computers. Jamie rubbed the back of her neck and glared at him, but she did not say anything more.

"Jamie, good thing you are finally here!" called her father who had just come in from another room. He was accompanied by another one of Dylan's associates, Ali. "Now we can really get this show on the road! I was so glad when I heard they had taken the bait."

"How are you doing, Jamie?" asked Ali. Jamie answered with a nasty word in Arabic and Ali smiled.

"I think you should wash your daughter's mouth out with soap," he suggested to her father. Her father just shrugged.

"If you were my daughter, I would definitely wash your mouth out with soap. Or maybe something stronger…" Ali seemed very pleased with his sick idea. Jamie's father came over and steered her by the shoulders over to the central computer.

"We need you to pull up the city maps we had you look up at home and the diagrams," he said as he pushed her into the chair.

"Why?" she asked desperately. "What good is this going to do?"

"We're changing the world, Jamie," answered her dad with feverish passion. "We are going to make a world where everyone is perfect!"

"What are you going to do with the maps and diagrams I found for you?" she asked cautiously.

"We are going to make these governments remember that they are not always in control of others. They do not control the people of the world."

"But how?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," supplied Dylan. He had seen that her father was getting too passionate and was going to let something vital slip. "The only way to find out what is going to happen is for you to cooperate and help us."

Jamie bit her lip. She wanted to find out what was going on so that she could stop something horrible from happening, but the only way to find that out would be to help create what she wanted to stop. She really hated being in this type of position. She could refuse to help, but then Dylan would just find someone else to do what he wanted and she did not want to find out what would happen to her if she refused to do what he wanted. If only there were other people in the world who could help her. She fingered the necklace in her pocket. Even though MI6 had said that they wanted to help and protect her, she still did not completely trust them. She wasn't sure she wanted them to know what her family was planning yet. She wasn't sure that they would help her if they did know and then they would just throw her into prison without asking for her side of the story as well. This was what Dylan had always told her would happen if she told any authority figure what was going on inside her family and their business.

Jamie slowly turned and faced the computer screen and logged into her account. Dylan smiled and her father rubbed her shoulder, encouraging her to keep helping them. Dylan knew he had won against her again and she would not back down from what he would ask. She was trapped in the jobs that he would give her. He had made sure that there was no one else for her to turn to outside of the group that she had been raised in. He watched as she slowly typed in the codes and information required to gain access to the information they were requesting. Soon everything would be ready for their grand plan to be executed. Now he just had to find a way to make sure that they were not interrupted by the nosey teenage spy, Alex Rider.

Dylan was sure that something had happened while Jamie had been separated from her mother at the MI6 headquarters, unfortunately Jamie was a very good actress. Dylan sometimes cursed himself for teaching her so well because now she could use it against him all too easily. She had progressed in her training more quickly than he could have believed, especially because she was a girl. He had never had a high esteem for women, but now he had to force himself to take a second look at Jamie. She was the best computer programmer they had in his cell, but there were others who would be able to do what he was asking. Dylan wanted Jamie doing this job. He wanted to see whether she would be loyal to his cause and follow directions because she had been becoming very stubborn lately and he was worried that she might actually turn against him and go to the police, or in this case, MI6. He really did not want the Special Operations breathing down his neck, but he needed to have the inside information that could only be gotten that way. Dylan just hoped that Jamie would stay subservient for the rest of this task and then he would decide what to do with her.

"They're up," announced Jamie gloomily and Dylan turned to survey the screen. All of the information that he had asked her to find while they had been in the states. He pushed her chair out of the way so that he could start going through the pages and pull up the information that he needed right away. Luckily, he did not notice Jamie sneaking looks at what he was pulling up on the screen. She saw blueprints of the city's water and air supply systems and then Dylan managed to block her view by shifting. Jamie thought she caught a glimpse of the drawings for a bomb but she could not be sure. She was slowly realizing that she may have to go to MI6 and give them some of the information so that they could stop whatever was going on, even if it meant that she would get into trouble too. Suddenly Dylan turned to her.

"Put this into your laptop's hard drive so that I can go over it when we get back to the hotel," he ordered. When she pulled out a flash drive from her bag he stopped her. "What are you doing?"

"This is the easiest way to get the information from this computer to my computer," she said with forced patience. "If I don't use the flash drive then I have to send it through email and that would make the information easier to access." Dylan nodded and let her plug in the flash drive and download the information. Jamie couldn't believe that he had forgotten that she already had all of this information on her laptop. Jamie now had a way to get the information to MI6. The question was whether or not she would have the guts to actually give it to them before it was too late.


	8. Chapter 8

"Dear Mr. Smithers, this is the only way I can find of getting this information to you. I do not know what it is for at this time, but these are all of the plans. I have not taken any part in anything other than finding information and I did not partake willingly. Please use this information to stop the next terrorist attack on London."

Jamie finished typing and looked at the document in front of her. She could tell it sounded bad, but this was the only way she could think of to get the information to the right place. She had been looking over the files that her parents had had her look up and find since she had gotten back from the building where Dylan was setting up his operation. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she knew that none of it would be good. No matter what would happen, she needed to get this information to Alex, or someone under MI6 jurisdiction.

"Jamie, what are you doing?" her mother had just come back to the room.

"Nothing mom," replied Jamie as she hastily closed the document and opened a new one. "I'm just working on a paper I have due for school."

Her mother smiled, "When are you not working on something?"

"I need something to keep me busy," answered Jamie and she started working on the paper she had pulled up. Her mother went into the bathroom and started to run water for a shower. Jamie took this as her opportunity.

"Hey mom," she called through the door. "Can I go down and check out the pool and the workout room?"

"Sure honey, just be too long." Jamie smiled, saved her message to Smithers on her flash drive and shut down her computer. Then she left the room and went to find the workout room.

She didn't really want to work out at all, but it was a good reason to disappear off her mother's radar long enough for her to contact Alex and find out where and when to give him the flash drive. When she got down to the pool and workout rooms, there really wasn't much of a place to hold a private conversation. Jamie wandered around the rooms for a while in case her mother or Dylan decided to check whether she had actually gone down there and then she wandered the halls on her way back upstairs, looking for somewhere quiet.

Finally she found an unlocked housekeeping closet and she stepped inside. She took a deep breath, pressed the A button on her watch and said, "Alex? Are you there?" She released the A button and waited, praying that Alex was wearing his watch and he would answer her. _C'mon Alex!,_ she thought and suddenly her watch answered her, "Hey Jamie. You just gave my housekeeper a panic attack."

"Sorry," Jamie said sheepishly. "I just needed to talk to you about my dad's case."

Alex could sense the seriousness in her voice, "What's wrong? Did something new come up?"

"No. Well, kind of… it's really hard to explain," Jamie replied. She was getting more and more nervous about actually telling him about her parents. Finally she blurted out what she really wanted, "Could we talk in person somewhere?"

"Sure," Alex didn't seem to hesitate in his answer at all. "There is a park right across the street from your hotel; do you want to meet there?"

"That sounds good," Jamie sighed a breath of relief.

"When do you want to meet? Right now or tomorrow or… when?"

"What about tonight? Then there will be less people to eavesdrop," Jamie suggested.

"Sounds good, how about we meet at the fountain in the middle of the park around 11?"

"Sounds great, thank you so much," said Jamie.

"Anytime," said Alex. "Over and out."

Jamie smiled a little, "yep, over and out."

Jamie opened the door to the closet and checked to make sure that the hallway was clear before she came out and headed back to her room. Tonight she would finally tell someone about what her parents were and she would be able to stop whatever they had planned. She felt better and more nervous at the same time after her conversation with Alex. She was reassured by his willingness to help her even though they had only really met two days before.

By the time Jamie got back up to her room, her mother was getting out of the shower. Jamie headed straight over to her bag and pulled out her sketch pad and curled up on the windowsill. Her mother took a book and sat on one of the beds to read, but just her cell phone rang. As she answered it, Jamie listened intently to find out who it was and what was going on. The conversation was in rapid Arabic, but Jamie still caught that it was Dylan on the phone. He wanted to take her and her mother out to dinner that night. By the time her mother hung up, Jamie had controlled her frustration with Dylan's uncanny timing and was back to sketching calmly.

"Jamie, Dylan is taking us out to dinner tonight," announced her mother. "How about you pull on a skirt or a dress or something nicer and we will head out?"

"Okay," said Jamie as she stowed her sketch book and pulled a skirt out of her suitcase. Maybe this would work out if Dylan wanted to have an early dinner.

Dinner passed without anything interesting occurring. Jamie had decided that since she was going to tell Alex everything that night anyway, she would start wearing the necklace in front of Dylan and her mother. Jamie really didn't have anything to worry about though; the adults were professionals at not letting anything slip while they were out. After dinner, Dylan walked them up to their hotel room where Jamie immediately went inside and got changed. Dylan and her mother lingered in the doorway for a little bit talking but Jamie didn't really care what they were talking about at that point. It was 9:30 and she wanted to make sure that her mother was asleep before she tried to leave to go meet Alex. Luckily her mother had had a few glasses of wine with dinner that night.

After Dylan left, her mother washed up in the bathroom, put on her pajamas and sat in bed with a book. Jamie took this as her chance to take her bag and a change of clothes into the bathroom with her. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts that she would wear to bed, but she put a pair of jeans and a shirt in the bathroom for when she left. She also left her sneakers in there. Hopefully her mother would not go to the bathroom between now and the time Jamie got back from her meeting with Alex. Jamie made sure that her watch was right and then climbed into her bed to wait for a good time to leave for the park. It was 10 and her mother was starting to nod off, soon she would be able to move.

At 10:50 Jamie got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She was hoping that even if her mother woke up at this point, she would just think Jamie was using the toilet. Jamie pulled on her jeans and a baggy guy's button down blue plaid shirt and her sneakers. She picked up her bag with all of her gadgets and everything and snuck to the door of the room. Luckily her mother was sound asleep and Jamie made it out of the room and out of the hotel without anyone seeing her.

As she walked through the park Jamie prayed that Alex was there waiting for her and that Dylan had not found out what she was up to. She fingered the flash drive in her pocket. Alex would be able to take it to MI6 and make sure that they knew everything that she knew about the operation. She slowed down as she neared the fountain and walked around the perimeter until she saw a figure sitting on the edge.

"Alex?"

"It's me," answered the figure sitting on the fountain's edge and Jamie walked over.

"Thanks for meeting me," said Jamie as she sat down, but she couldn't help fidgeting a little and looking around for people watching them.

"Of course, you sounded a little nervous over the watch," said Alex as he watched her. "What's up? Did you find out something more about your dad?"

Jamie gave a dry laugh. "Oh, I've known a lot about him for a long time, but this is the first time I've ever tried telling someone else." Alex looked at her seriously and Jamie took a deep breath. "My dad is absolutely, one hundred percent fine."

"Well, that is a good thing, but how do you know?" asked Alex.

"He was never kidnapped by anyone," Jamie stressed, willing Alex to catch on quickly. "It was all a ruse, they just needed a reason to have an in with MI6 and your government. They are planning something and that's why I needed to talk to you."

Alex was sitting there staring at her. Jamie sighed and pulled the flash drive out of her pocket.

"I need you to give this to Mr. Smithers as soon as you possibly can," she said holding it out for him to take.

Alex hesitated, "Why? What is on it?"

"It's not dangerous, I made it myself just to get the information to Mr. Smithers. It contains all of the information my parents made me find for them concerning this operation they are running. It has something to do with the government's air or water system, I'm not sure which. There is some sort of agent they are going to release into one of those systems but I don't know what that is or what it will do. I just know that we have to stop it. You're government needs to stop this attack!" Jamie had gotten more frantic as she had talked because she needed Alex to believe that she wasn't part of the group trying to harm his country. "Please, Alex, just give it to Smithers, he will be able to open it without any worry of viruses because he has the technology to combat any of those things and I didn't put any viruses on that USB."

Alex took the flash drive and put it in his pocket, but Jamie could tell that he was still unsure of her. "Who do your parents work for?"

"Not any of the big name terrorist groups like Al Queda or Scorpia or anything like that," answered Jamie. Alex seemed to breathe out when she said that they did not work for Scorpia but she knew she had to warn him about Dylan. "Still, watch out for my uncle, Dylan, he wants to prove that he is better than Scorpia and the way that he has discovered for doing that is getting to you."

"Great," said Alex and he stood up. "Why should I even trust you anyway?"

"You shouldn't," answered a voice from the trees and both Jamie and Alex jumped. Jamie stood up and looked into the darkness. "This is working out very nicely."

Jamie looked toward the sound of the voice as did Alex. Suddenly a group of men dressed in black step forward. Jamie recognized them.

"Crap," was all she could say. It was Dylan.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alex had tensed as soon as the voice had spoken from the trees and now he stared as the men materialized in front of him and Jamie. Was it a trap? He glanced at Jamie out of the corner of his eye. She seemed genuinely worried and … could it be, scared? He turned to re-asses the man who had spoken. He had a look of total control on his face, like he knew what was going on.

"Jamie, aren't you glad to see me?" he asked with all of his attention on her. Jamie was ashen. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She had taken every precaution to make sure that he had no idea that this meeting was taking place. How had he found out? This was impossible! Jamie knew that it would be hard, but the most important thing to do would be to get Alex to MI6 and safety. She had just hoped she would not have to face Dylan while leaking all of his plans to a government agency.

"What are you doing here?" she asked trying to make her voice sound more controlled than she felt.

Dylan smiled. "Oh, I just thought I would take a late night walk. I guess it was luck that led me to you."

Jamie knew that Alex was regretting coming now. He had asked her why he should trust her and here was the number one reason he shouldn't. Everyone in the park was tense except for Dylan, who really did look like he had just decided to go for a late night walk. Jamie realized that he must have found out what she was up to and decided that this was the best time to catch Alex. She knew she could not let Dylan catch Alex. She would not let his twisted plan play out this time.

Jamie decided to stall and see if she could get Alex to get away. "Don't you trust me Dylan? You did ask for my assistance in this part of your plan," she said and waited for his answer.

"Of course I don't trust you," was Dylan's reply. "And you have already helped quite a bit. We have the Rider boy in our grasp. That was your plan right?" Jamie knew she was trapped because if she denied it, both she and Alex would be dead. Time for some drastic action; Jamie backed toward Alex, who was still behind her. Dylan turned to bark orders at his men in Arabic, but the last bit was in English, "… and no mistakes!"

Jamie leaned in and whispered in Alex's ear, "You've got to get to MI6 as quickly as possible. I'll play distraction, you just run." Jamie looked him in the eye and then scanned the area. "They haven't closed in yet, get down and move as soon as you get a chance." Alex gave her an uneasy glance and then ducked down under the fountain's shadow while everyone was looking away. Jamie saw that Alex was down and she took a deep breath. Then she threw her body sideways into a tree and grabbed her head like she had been hit. "Ouch!"

Dylan whipped his head around and stared at her, "What happened…Where is Rider?"

"He hit me out of nowhere and ran for it!" cried Jamie.

"You idiot!" screamed Dylan as he slapped her. Alex flinched at the sound. Was that how Jamie was normally treated? It would explain how her wrist had been hurt. "Find that kid!" The rest of the men in the clearing spread out and began hunting for Alex. Dylan turned back to Jamie, "Which way did he go?"

"To the right, I think," Dylan stared at her. "He hit me! I wasn't paying that much attention!"

"I'll deal with you later," spat Dylan and joined the others, a gun appearing in his hand.

Jamie waited until he had disappeared in the trees and then she motioned to Alex to move. "Go now. It might be longer, but they would expect you to take the shortest route."

Alex nodded and started to move, but then stopped. "Come with me. It'll prove you're more innocent if you give them the info."

"I'll go, but if they catch us, you go no matter what," she stared him down. "I know these people, you don't." Alex nodded and they were off.

Dylan stormed back to the fountain. None of his men had seen the boy go past them and there was no way he could have evaporated. He was sure Jamie had lied to him. When he got back to the fountain he circled it. Jamie was nowhere to be found. "That little…!" Dylan let off some expletives in Arabic and then called for his men. "Search all over," he ordered. "It seems little miss Jamie has decided to trade sides." The chase was on.

Jamie and Alex stopped beside some dumpsters behind a building next to the hotel Jamie was staying in. They were both breathing hard after sprinting for the fountain in the park. Suddenly Jamie held her breath and listened.

"What is it?" Alex asked, but Jamie shushed him. She peered around the dumpster. There were men in dark clothing appearing out of the park.

"Crap!" Jamie said. She looked at Alex, "They found us." Alex nodded and hurried to the other end of the alley with Jamie close behind him. They ran as far as they could behind the buildings, but they finally hit a dead end.

"We have to go out on the main road now," whispered Alex.

"They'll see us. Isn't there another way?" Alex shook his head. Jamie took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll walk normally until they definitely spot us and move in. Then take off as fast as possible. No looking back." Alex nodded once again and they moved up the alley. When they reached the edge they peered out and noticed a few of the men, but they were farther back. Jamie gave Alex a slight push and they began a somewhat leisurely walk up the sidewalk.

"How far to MI6 from here?" Jamie asked, keeping her voice down so that they would not be overheard.

"Not too far, but I don't think I could out run your friends," Alex responded. Jamie flinched at those words. She had hoped that he would let it go or give her a chance to explain, but there was no such luck.

"Alex, I promise I didn't mean for this to happen. I tried to keep you out of this situation, but letting you know was the only way for me to try to help your government stop a terrorist attack. I don't even know how Dylan knew I was meeting you," Jamie knew there was a pleading note to her voice that Dylan would have killed her for using. He hated it when she showed any kind of weakness, but she needed to know that Alex would be on her side. Alex continued to be stiff and aloof. He didn't know what to do. Jamie could be telling the truth, or she could be a very good actress. With all that he had been through, he could never be sure. Then Jamie stiffened next to him.

"They realized it's us," she said quietly. "Get ready to run." Alex snuck a quick glance back and saw the men moving towards them in the street. Soon the footsteps increased as the men cut off their escape down the side streets. Then more men stepped out and blocked their path forward. Alex and Jamie had been quickly and easily surrounded.

"Got any weapons?" Jamie whispered. Alex shook his head. She sighed. "Okay, I'll make a gap and you get that flash drive to Smithers." Alex didn't like having his life in the hands of someone he barely knew, but he had to trust her because she was his only option. Alex watched as Jamie slowly reached into the back waistband of her jeans and pulled out a dagger. Alex was surprised because they were the same age and MI6 had never allowed him to have a weapon of any kind. He guessed that different rules were in play in this situation.

"Now, Jamie, what is this act you're pulling?" Dylan's voice came from the back of the group. Alex watched Jamie close her eyes and take a deep breath.

"Just let him go Dylan," she said. "He has nothing to do with you." Some of the men chuckled a bit nervously. No one had ever tried to talk Dylan into doing something that went against his exact plans.

"You know that won't happen, missy. Now stop playing hero and get over here!" Jamie knew a direct order when she heard one and knew she was going to die when Dylan got his hands on her. She grabbed Alex's wrist in her free hand and started to back towards the edge of the group of men. Alex realized that she was still wearing her wrist brace and wondered again how she had been hurt. Then he realized what she was doing.

"Uh, Jamie, the guards…" Alex started, but Jamie shook her head so little it looked more like a twitch. No one was really sure what was going to happen; there was nowhere for them to go. When they were practically right on top of Dylan's guards Jamie lashed out with her fist with the dagger. She caught the first guard on the side of the head with the hilt which brought him down instantly. Before anyone could really register what had happened Jamie hit another guard in the stomach and pushed Alex out the opening yelling, "Go!"

Alex stumbled briefly, but then took off up the street. He heard someone following him and he glanced back to see Jamie following on his heels. The group had reorganized behind them and was in full pursuit. They were gaining on Jamie quickly.

"Just go!" she panted. Then she fell as a blade hit her in the back of the leg. Her dagger went flying and the men overtook her quickly. Alex would have helped her but he was seriously outnumbered and was not in the mood to get caught.

Jamie pulled the knife out of her calf and tried to crawl for her dagger, but she was grabbed by the back of her shirt.

"Oh no you don't." Every word from Dylan's mouth dripped venom. He spun her around so she was facing him and then he pulled her hair so she had to look him in the eye. Jamie had always been scared of Dylan, but now she was absolutely terrified by the murderous glint in his eye. "You have messed with me for the last time." Then he pushed her to one of the other men who shoved her into a truck and drove off.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alex walked purposefully out of the Royal and General Bank and headed back towards the park where he had met with Jamie the night before. He had just come from meeting with Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones. As always, they had not been very helpful to him. Neither had been very surprised with his story about Jamie's family being involved with a terrorist group, but they were extremely interested with the flash drive. Smithers had taken it, but he was having some problems breaking through the security codes. Since that was taking too long for their liking, Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones had decided on another approach to getting the information.

"You want me to just go and hand myself over to these people without a fight?" Alex cried in disbelief. "You're just going to give them what they want? The one guy wants me dead!"

"Yes, but that is why this is going to work," explained Mr. Blunt calmly. "They want to have you in their grasp. If we sent anyone else, they would not get inside or they would ask the wrong questions and get themselves killed."

"How do you know that they won't just shot me and leave me in the park?" asked Alex skeptically.

"They want to show that they are better than Scorpia. That is what you told us," said Mrs. Jones. "In that case they will want to take their time, draw out whatever is going on. They want a show. They will not do something that seems cowardly or it would make them look worse."

"That makes me feel so much better," said Alex under his breath.

"Jamie will recognize you and know that you can help her. That will make it easier to get her to trust you and thus come out of this in one piece," added Mr. Blunt. "We need her because she is the best link we have found to getting the drop on some of the major terrorist organizations in a long time." Alex couldn't believe that he had been drawn into their schemes once again.

"How will you be able to tell where they are taking me?" asked Alex dejectedly.

"Smithers has created a new tracking device that is extremely hard to uncover, even while it is transmitting," said Mrs. Jones. "He will be waiting for you in his office." With that Alex left the room and met with Smithers to receive his tracking device. He had to note that this was not making him feel any more secure with the situation at hand.

When Alex walked out of the bank he had the tracking device hidden in the buckle of his belt. He couldn't believe he was actually going through with this assignment. It was suicide! He didn't even know whether Jamie had been telling him the truth. He prayed that he was not walking into a huge trap.

As Alex reached the area where he and Jamie had been surrounded the night before he slowed down and started to act like he was looking for Jamie. MI6 wanted it to look like they had arranged to meet the next morning, but Alex was positive Jamie would not be there. He soon got the feeling that he was being watched. Alex headed down some of the side streets where he and Jamie had hid. All of his instincts were screaming at him to be more cautious and careful, but that wasn't what MI6 wanted. As he rounded a corner someone struck him on the back of the head and he crumpled to the ground. A truck pulled into the alley and the men stowed their cargo and took off.

Alex came to as the van was pulling through the gates of a group of industrial looking buildings. Even though his ankles and wrists were bound he tried to push himself up to get a better look out of the windows. Alex quickly laid back down right before the back doors to the van crashed open and one of the men climbed into the back with him. A blindfold was tied around his eyes and then his ankles were untied. Then he was guided into the building by his abductors. The hallways seemed very quiet, but Alex guessed that the main activities would be hidden deeper inside the building; away from prying eyes. Suddenly, there was much more noise and activity. The men holding him called out in a language Alex did not recognize. There was lots of movement and Alex thought he could hear computers.

"You can take the blindfold off of him now. I doubt he could find his way out," said a smug voice from in front of him. Alex felt someone untie the blindfold and then he blinked in the brightness of the artificial light. The man in front of him seemed to be in his forties. He was wearing khakis and an open necked shirt and seemed to be in control.

"Where is Dylan?" asked one of Alex's captors. The man in front of Alex smiled.

"Where do you think he is? Someone has to teach that brat to do as she is told," replied the man. The other men laughed and Alex wondered what was happening to Jamie.

Jamie pushed herself away from the wall and faced Dylan. Again.

"Am I not hitting hard enough or are you just too stubborn to stay down?" Dylan asked tauntingly. Jamie just stood her ground and kept her mouth shut.

"Ah, the silent treatment, huh? I guess I can work with that." Dylan threw some feints, but Jamie didn't move. She didn't have the energy to do more than block his real punches. She was totally concentrated on waiting him out, which turned out to be really frustrating for him, much to her amusement. Dylan came at her and she managed to dodge most of his worst hits. With all of her training she should have been on offense, but she didn't have the strength or energy. "You waiting for someone to come and rescue you?" Dylan taunted.

"I take care of myself, thanks," snapped Jamie.

"Of course you can," Dylan replied in a mock baby voice.

"Stuff it already!" Jamie leaped at Dylan, catching him by surprise. She hit him in the nose and managed to land a few more good hits before he recovered. All too soon she was pinned against the wall with Dylan's hands tightening around her neck. He kept squeezing as Jamie tried in vain to loosen his grip. She was starting to see black spots.

"I knew you didn't have the self control to fight me," he said smugly as Jamie's attempts to break free became weaker. Dylan backed up, and then threw Jamie at the wall. She was unconscious before she even hit the wall. He watched her to make sure his job was done and then he left the room, wiping blood from his nose.

Alex had been made to stand and watch while his captors went over some of the last minute plans on a nearby computer. Unfortunately they were all speaking what he figured must be Arabic and the plans on the computer were also in Arabic. Finally, they had taken him down a hallway in time to see another man walking towards them. Alex's guards called to the man and they began talking which gave Alex time to get a good look at this newcomer. The man looked like he had just been in a fight. He looked to be in his middle thirties and was dressed in a t-shirt and sweat pants. Then Alex realized he knew this man. It was Dylan, the man who had confronted Jamie in the park the night before. Dylan looked at Alex and smiled broadly. He said something to the other guards in Arabic that made them laugh and then Alex was led off to a door down the hall. The door was opened and Alex was pushed inside. He stumbled over the door jam and landed on his face in the middle of the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When Alex got up, the door had been closed and locked. The room had some dirty lights and no windows. From his view, there was no way to escape. Alex closely surveyed his cell and realized that he was not alone. There was someone lying in a heap in one of the far corners of the room. Alex approached the figure cautiously. He held his breath as he reached for the person's wrist, and released his breath when he felt a pulse. Alex reached forward and brushed the person's hair out of the way and gasped when he realized that the person was Jamie. She looked like she had been in some sort of accident with all of the bruises and cuts there were. Alex picked up her left wrist, which was missing its brace and was lying at an awkward angle, and Jamie groaned. Alex found the splint in the other corner and began to try and put it back on gently.

Jamie slowly swam up through the depths of unconsciousness. She was about to open her eyes when she realized that someone was touching her. It took amazing self control for her to keep her body relaxed and loose until she could figure out what the person was doing. Then the person bent her wrist and the pain shot up her arm.

"Ow!" Jamie jerked her arm away as the other person jumped away. She cradled her wrist to her chest and blinked hard to stop from crying.

"I… I'm sorry. I was trying to put your brace back on." Jamie could barely believe who was in the room with her, but she looked up to see Alex crouching just in front of her. She had meant for him to get away. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Jamie smiled wryly. "Yeah, I'm doing just great."

Alex cringed, "okay, sorry, stupid question." Jamie shook her head and managed to slip her brace on without causing too much more pain. Alex watched her carefully. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

"I thought you went to MI6," Jamie said finally. "I thought you got away."

"I did." Jamie stared at him. "But then MI6 wanted me to come back so that I could find you and the terrorist cell. They were having a hard time decoding the flash drive you gave me and thought this would be faster." Jamie sighed. This was not working out at all like she had hoped. "They sent me to make sure that you stay safe."

Jamie snorted. "You're supposed to keep me safe? You don't know these people at all!"

"I've held my own in plenty of situations," Alex said defensively.

Jamie just shook her head. "We are so screwed." Jamie started wiping at some of her bruises. Her lip was split and her nose was bleeding, but that wasn't too bad. Her worst injury was her wrist.

"Any more knives you could use to get us out of here?" Alex asked.

"They wouldn't let me get away with that trick twice," Jamie laughed. "I was thoroughly searched before they threw me in here."

"What do they want with you?" Alex asked.

"This is supposed to be the first really big operation that I am involved in," replied Jamie. She would not look at Alex. "I'm in charge of setting up the computer programs that will carry out Dylan's big attack on London."

"So you are in on this entire operation?"

"Not by choice." Now she looked Alex straight in the eye. "If I had my way, I would have stopped being part of this whole group years ago when I finally realized what they were doing. It just so happens that when you are related to the people who lead a group like this, they don't want to let you go, especially not alive."

"So this is your only way out? To get MI6 to stop this operation and get you a free pass out?" Alex asked. Jamie nodded. They sat quietly for a little while. Jamie was stretching out and making sure that her muscles would work when they were needed. Soon footsteps could be heard approaching their cell. A key turned in the lock and then the doorway was filled with a group of five men led by the man Alex had seen in the computer room earlier.

"Honestly, Ali, how many men do you need to escort two teenagers?" Jamie asked in a light voice.

"If you were normal teenagers, I would get you myself, however, this is a rare occasion and we wanted to take extra precautions. Dylan does not like mistakes and neither do I," Ali replied as the other men came into the room and took hold of Jamie and Alex's arms. "Time for you to do your job, Jamie." Ali turned and left the room followed by the guards with Alex and Jamie.

They were led down the hall to the computer room Alex had been in earlier. All of the computer stations had people working, but as they came in the man at the main computer in the center of the room got up and walked towards them.

"What is all of this, Ali?" the man asked. "Don't you think she has learned her lesson?" Ali shrugged his shoulders and signaled for the guards to let go of Jamie. "Come on Jamie, the computer is ready for you."

"No, dad, I won't do it." Alex looked from Jamie to the man she had just called "dad". So this was the person MI6 had been asked to find because he had been "kidnapped". There was not a huge family resemblance. Alex was surprised to see how much calmer Jamie was around her dad than around Dylan.

"Jamie, this is your chance to prove you deserve more advanced work. You know how to do this, you won't mess up," her dad used a calm reasoning tone. Jamie realized that he thought she was afraid of messing up the operation, not that she really just didn't want to be a part of the terrorist cell.

"No. You don't understand. I do not want to be a part of any terrorist group. I want out," Jamie enunciated every word so that there would be no confusion on what she had just said. Her dad looked shocked.

"Now I thought we had fixed this attitude problem earlier," Dylan entered through the other side of the room. He had changed out of his workout clothes and into jeans and a button down shirt. "You used to be such a good kid, always doing as you were told. Is this a show for your new friend? We could get rid of him if that would clear this matter up." Dylan picked up a gun from one of the tables and aimed it at Alex. Jamie caught Alex's eye. He could see that she was fighting an internal battle over whether or not she should just keep standing up against Dylan or give in to protect the innocent person Dylan was threatening.

Jamie looked coldly at Dylan. "Fine." Her dad put his hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the computer. Dylan approached Alex with the gun.

"So here stands the famous Alex Rider. I should really thank you because by killing you I will earn a great deal of respect among the terrorist community. Maybe I'll get contracts from some of Scorpia's dissatisfied customers." Alex managed to swing out and kick Dylan, but he was rewarded with a punch to the face that would have sent him flying except the guards still had a tight hold on him. "Hm, I see why Jamie took a shine to you. You've got the same type of temper that she does." He turned to Jamie, "You done yet?"

"It's taking a little longer because you broke my wrist," Jamie yelled back with tightly controlled anger. Dylan looked like he was going to make a retort, but then his phone beeped. He took it from its holder on his belt and answered in Arabic. Alex noticed Jamie trying to listen in while still looking like she was working. Dylan finally yelled instructions into the phone and hung up. Then he approached Alex and punched him.

"You brought company with you?" Dylan yelled. Alex shook his head to clear his vision and noticed that Jamie had stopped working on the computer and was turned to face them. "There's a whole army of the SAS around this building right now!" The sounds of bullets could be heard from outside the room. Alex saw Jamie's eyes widen. Her father left her side and went to calm Dylan down. As he left her side, Jamie went back to furiously typing at the computer, obviously her wrist didn't hurt as much as she claimed.

"Dylan, maybe it wasn't them. Maybe the SAS tracked you from the meeting with Aisha," he put a reassuring hand on Dylan's arm. "Now is not the time for rash actions my friend. We have planned for these sorts of situations, now we must use those preparations." Dylan stayed still for a moment and then nodded in concession.

"Take Aisha and her force and try to take out as many as possible on your way out," Dylan said, regaining his calm, in charge attitude. "I'll take Jamie and the Rider boy once the computer information is complete." Alex watched Jamie's dad's reaction and was somewhat surprised by the satisfied nod. Alex had thought that this man would stop Dylan from doing anything more to his daughter, but Alex had guessed wrong. Dylan came over and grabbed Alex by the arm and dragged him over to where Jamie sat at the computer. He had pulled out a gun.

"Almost done?" he asked gruffly.

"Just one more minute…" Jamie trailed off as she quickly scanned the code she had typed in. She was about to add the finishing touches when the door to the room was blown off of its hinges. SAS men swarmed in through the hole where the door had been and Alex breathed a small sigh of relief. Now he and Jamie weren't completely on their own. Dylan whipped toward the SAS man with his gun pointing in Jamie and Alex's direction. Then he yelled something in Arabic at the soldiers. Jamie had turned to face the men when they had stormed in, but Alex saw that her fingers were still on her keyboard. They were slowly inching toward the enter button. Jamie looked in his direction and Alex caught her eye with his questioning glance. He had thought that she didn't want to be part of what her family had planned, but maybe he had been wrong all along.

Jamie tried to communicate that she wasn't going to cause harm. She just needed to finish entering the code that would stop Dylan's project from being complete, but the SAS wouldn't be happy if she started messing with the computer in front of them when they didn't know her and she didn't want Dylan to shot Alex and her when he realized she had sabotaged his project. She froze as the SAS men spoke. She realized then that Dylan had used a different dialect of Arabic, one that was not well known, but her family used it a lot. One of the soldiers was trying a more common form of Arabic, but she knew Dylan would continue to play dumb.

"Sir, put down your weapon. This is not a fight you should try." One soldier said it in English while the other tried it in Arabic. Dylan just shook the gun and started babbling in his other dialect of Arabic again, but he was making the soldiers nervous. "Sir, please stop or we will use force!" one of the soldiers tried again, but Dylan didn't care. Jamie finally had enough of Dylan's craziness.

"He speaks English. He's ignoring you," she called to the soldiers and Dylan turned and hit her across the face with the gun. Jamie flew out of the chair and onto the floor and Alex backed away from Dylan and the gun. One of the soldiers fired and Dylan turned to return the fire. As he did, Jamie reached up from where she was on the floor and hit the finally key in her sequence. The computers digested the new information and almost instantly the screens went fuzzy and then to black. Dylan turned to catch this latest problem and turned on her, but Jamie had ducked out of his line of eyesight and with the soldiers firing and some of Dylan's people returning fire, he just had to get out of the room. Jamie hid under the desk, behind the wiring while Dylan casted about for what he should do next. She was just praying that he wouldn't find her and that if he did; she hoped that the SAS would shot her first. She did not want to know what the price would be for deceiving him. When Dylan headed out of the room in a sprint, Jamie came out from her hiding spot and was about to follow him, when Alex caught her arm and spun her into a doorway, out of the range of fire.

"What did you do?" Alex asked, his voice desperate. He was hoping he had not just been led into a trap.

"I crashed the computer. The program that he wanted is dead, it won't work on these computers anymore. I stopped his first plan. Can you let go of me now? You're hurting me." Jamie wriggled her arm and Alex let go. She met his eyes as she rubbed where he had grabbed her. "You have quite a grip, did you know that?"

Alex shook his head and then snapped up to look at her again. "Wait, you said you stopped his first plan… what is his second plan?"

"I don't know," Jamie shrugged her shoulders in frustration. "I was going to follow him and find out what his backup plan was, but you stopped me."

"Do you have any idea where he may have put the backup?" Alex asked. He was sorry he had stopped her from pursuing Dylan, but it was also a very dangerous task.

"I think I do, but it'll be easier if I just go by myself," Jamie said as she checked whether the coast was clear.

"And why do you think that?" asked Alex as he started to follow her down the hall. He had not been expecting her to stop and turn on him so quickly so they were almost nose to nose when she turned. There was anger in her eyes.

"Because most people here do not entirely realize that I am a traitor to all that they have worked for and thus I will be able to get around more quickly and easily. Second, I speak their language, so I will be able to know what is going on and I can't be hindered by someone who doesn't know what is going on!" Jamie was scared and angry and just wanted to get back at Dylan for all that he had ever done to her and yet she did not want Alex to get hurt by following her into some unknown.

"Good reasons, but you still need someone to watch your back, and that is my job," Alex said resolutely. "That was the task MI6 assigned me and I plan to see it through." Jamie could have smacked him.

"I don't need your help or MI6. I can take care of this on my own!" Jamie started to run down the hallway and Alex followed quickly behind. He wouldn't be given the slip. He was doing this to help her. He didn't want to find her among the casualties at the end of the day; by Dylan's hand or the SAS.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jamie had taken off because she was hoping she could lose Alex in the tangle of corridors and doors in the building. She had had a chance to see most of the rooms when she had been there the first time with Dylan, but she still did not have a very good idea of where he may have placed the other detonator. She just knew she had to find it before he had a chance to correct her treasonous act. She heard footsteps behind her and put on more speed. She didn't care if it was Alex or someone else; she just needed to get away.

Alex was surprised by how fast Jamie could be, even when she was hurt. He had to chalk it up to pure adrenaline. Alex had just seen Jamie dash around another corner when a group of soldiers cut off his route.

"Cub?" Alex looked up as the man removed a mask he had been wearing over his face.

"Ben!" Alex was relieved. Of all the people he had met through MI6 Ben was one of the soldiers he trusted most of all.

"We saw you in the computer room, but then you disappeared after the girl. Where are you going?" Ben asked as the other soldiers made sure that the corridor was safe.

"I was just following Jamie because she is off on some sort of suicide mission," said Alex in a frustrated tone. "She's trying to give me the slip."

"Is she the girl that they sent you to follow and get out of this safely?" asked Ben quickly. "One and the same," Alex replied. "She is following Dylan to find out where his backup detonator is."

"You cover her and we will cover you," said Ben with a wave of his hand and Alex set off quickly down the hall. He felt much better now that he might face Dylan with some backup. Alex had no idea how he finally tracked down Jamie in all of those hallways. He tried to judge whether there was a lot of fighting in any direction and go away from the noise. Alex figured that Dylan would inform his fighters to draw attention away from where his detonator was. Finally, Alex and the soldiers rounded a corner to find Jamie crouched by a door. As he approached Jamie stiffened and then whipped around. When she saw Alex she relaxed a little and then stiffened with anger again.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed angrily as she moved him back down the hall. It seemed to Alex that she had not realized that the soldiers were behind him. "I thought I made it crystal clear that I do not want or need your help, or the help of these soldiers. This is a family problem."

"And I thought I told you that I am here to help you whether you want the help or not," Alex replied calmly, but also in a very quiet voice. "You aren't on your own anymore, Jamie. Let us help." Jamie took a deep breath and exhaled. Alex took this to mean that she would let him help. "Is Dylan in that room?" he asked carefully.

Jamie nodded. "It's the room with all of the pipes that feed out to the city. The detonator is built right into one of the main pipes. The room is built like a garage and I can hear fighting on the other side. He may not think he has that long. I have to act fast."

Alex nodded. "We are your backup."

Jamie made a face. "I really can't talk you out of this?" Alex shook his head. "Fine, but I go in first. Like I said, this is a family problem."

"Alright," Alex consented. "We'll follow right behind you." Jamie took a deep breath and faced the door again. She had been dreading the day that she would betray Dylan and then have to face him. The only reason she was facing him at all was that she knew what he had planned and she was the one who could and should stop it. She had helped him and now she would bring him down. She pressed her ear against the cool door and she could hear Dylan fighting with some of the wiring on the detonator. It was now or never. Jamie tried the door knob, it was unlocked. She straightened up and, with Alex and the soldiers behind her, she opened the door.

The room was fairly empty, but there was a collection of pipes and canisters in the corner right near the door. These canisters had been important to transferring fresh air to some buildings in London, but it had been out of use for quite some time and Dylan had basically needed to re-wire them from the beginning. It had taken months, maybe even years, of preparation, which was what Jamie now realized. The part she had played was relatively small.

There was also a garage type door that rolled up to the ceiling at the other side of the room. The view from there was blocked by some of the pipes and canisters, but Jamie could tell that there was fighting on that side because the door was open. As she scanned the canisters, looking for the detonator, Dylan's voice came out of the pipes.

"I was hoping I would get to see you again." His voice dripped with hatred; Jamie could actually feel it rolling off of him. Dylan stepped out from behind the pipes and faced her. Jamie felt the SAS men behind her bristle as Dylan stepped closer, but she held up her palm behind her back. She didn't want them to interfere. Dylan's eyes roamed over the soldiers, but then drifted back to Jamie. "You have some unfinished business, young lady."

"I think I did everything that I was told to do," Jamie responded, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. She had no idea how Dylan would choose to take his revenge. Dylan laughed dryly at her response.

"You are not going to get off the hook that quickly. I have one last job for you, now," Dylan sounded so calm, like he didn't realize that he was surrounded by soldiers who would shoot him if he made any other moves. Suddenly, they all realized why he was so confident. Another door in the room crashed open and more of Dylan's men ran into the room. They were all heavily armed and they effectively cut Jamie and Dylan off from the SAS and Alex. Dylan raised his voice to speak to the soldiers, "If any of you feel you need to come help Miss Jamie, think again. My men will shoot immediately if someone so much as shifts their foot too quickly." To Jamie he said, "This way, my pet."

Jamie stood her ground. "I am not going anywhere with you." Dylan smiled slowly. He reached into the waistband of his jeans and brought out a gun, which he aimed at her head.

"You will do as you are told or else I shoot you and my men shoot all of your friends back there." Dylan thought for a moment. "Actually, I would like the pleasure of taking care of Mr. Rider in the end though." Jamie shivered. "Come along, Jamie." Dylan waved the gun in the direction he wanted her to go and Jamie walked ahead slowly.

"You're outnumbered, Dylan, what do you really expect to achieve?" Jamie couldn't help asking, her curiosity was too strong.

"I still plan on achieving what I set out to achieve, whether you try to stop me or not." Dylan pushed her to keep her moving forward. He finally grabbed her shirt to stop her from moving past the detonator. From her new vantage point, Jamie could see the men she had come in with and the other fighters at the other door. She guessed that Alex and the other soldiers would also be able to see what happened where she was. Dylan still had his gun trained on her. She turned and faced him head on. They were each on one side of the detonator with Jamie looking back toward Alex. Jamie clenched her hands by her side to stop herself from shaking.

"I don't understand why you are so dead set on doing this," Jamie admitted. She was proud that her voice didn't shake too much.

"Because this is my job; this is what I do," was Dylan's manic reply. "I like to make people feel like they have no idea what will hit them next. Someone has to keep everyone else on their toes." Dylan leaned in close to her face, and Jamie forced herself not to back away. "Now you have a job to do. Put the rest of these wires together or I blow this whole place, with all of your new friends inside."

"I told you I don't want to be a part of any more of your mad ideas," said Jamie although she eyed the gun warily. Dylan's smile widened. He was entirely insane at this point. He didn't care about anything but causing as much damage to anyone as possible.

Alex was watching Jamie and Dylan as they had their conversation, but he was frustrated that he couldn't tell exactly what was going on. Jamie seemed to be holding out against whatever Dylan wanted, but Alex hated watching from the sidelines. Unfortunately, the guards in front of him and the soldiers were deciding to taunt them so that they would have a fight on their hands.

"You worried about Jamie?" asked one of the men in a light voice. "She has a knack for making Dylan mad; she will not be a bother much longer!" The man and some of his fellows laughed.

"I'm surprised he hasn't killed her already," commented another man, a little farther down the line. Alex hid his anger as best he could and strained to hear what was going on with Dylan and Jamie.

"You will do as I tell you, just like you always have," remarked Dylan as he took a piece of her hair and twirled it around his fingers. Then he smelled her hair. "You used to be such a good girl, why did you have to become so disobedient?"

"I didn't just become disobedient, I realized what you were really up to and decided that I don't want to be a terrorist."

"Come now Jamie, put the wires together because you know otherwise you and a lot of other people will not get out of this building alive." Jamie looked up at Dylan's face. She knew he wasn't joking, but she was also looking for the reason why he wouldn't just do it himself. Then she found it.

"You can't put the detonator together," she said somewhat quietly.

"What was that?" Dylan demanded.

Jamie actually smiled in his face. "You can't put the detonator together. You need someone like me to do it! Guess what? You either figure it out yourself or get arrested because I am not helping some dumb idiot." Jamie should have known she had gone way too far, but she was just finally realizing how incredibly stupid Dylan was about some things. As she finished her sentence, Dylan socked her in the gut causing her to double over in pain. Then she heard a gunshot and some yells. She frantically looked toward the soldiers and Alex to find that a man next to Alex had been shot in the shoulder.

"You're a bastard," she commented as she straightened up.

"Next time a shot goes through Mr. Rider's head," Dylan snapped. "And immediately after that I put another bullet in your head." Dylan grabbed her arm so that she now stood directly in front of the detonator. "Put it together," he growled, his gun trained on Alex. Alex had watched all of this, even though he had been distracted by the man next to him being shot. Luckily, the wound did not seem to be fatal. He turned his attention back to Jamie and Dylan to see that Dylan's gun was now trained on him. Dylan was using him almost like a hostage.

Jamie took hold of the wires. There were multiple connectors, but she recognized this pattern from one of her lessons from one of Dylan's friends. It would be complicated for someone who hadn't seen it before, but not for her. The only problem was that she didn't remember how to short the system out. Well, there was only one other way to accomplish her goal. Jamie looked up and over at Alex. She caught his eye and Alex saw some of the desperation and sadness in her eyes. She mouthed a word to him; "duck".

Jamie grabbed the wires in a stronger grip and ripped them out of the detonator causing sparks to fly. Jamie stumbled back a little with the force of ripping the wires, but she looked up to see the complete hatred in his eyes. Dylan turned his gun on her and pulled the trigger.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Alex had ducked as soon as he had seen Jamie strain against the wires. When he had suddenly heard the two distinct shots fired, he looked up. Alex yelled as Jamie's body shuddered with the force of the two bullets and then fell to the floor.

After Dylan had fired the shots, everyone started to shoot at once. The SAS soldiers began to fire on Dylan's men who were not as prepared. Dylan began to run out the back and his men decided to follow. Alex crouched and ran to Jamie's side.

Jamie had known that her actions would get her killed, but the pain from the gun shots was unbearable. She had fallen hard to the floor, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The world was getting foggy. She barely noticed Dylan's smirk as he ran past her. That didn't matter, she had stopped him. She had not given into Dylan. It was a first and she had paid the price. Suddenly a shadow fell over her and Jamie squinted, trying to make out who it was.

"Jamie. Oh crap." It was Alex's voice. He knelt down by her side and began to move her outer shirt so he could see the wound more clearly. "Just hold in there. I think one of the medics is coming."

Jamie tried to move her head, but it was already too much of an effort. "I … stopped…. Him," she managed to gasp out, but that just caused her wounds to hurt even more.

"Jamie, please try not to speak, you'll just waste energy." Jamie could tell Alex was worried. "I am going to put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding, it will probably hurt." Jamie tried to nod, but at that moment Alex pushed her bundled up shirt against her chest and she let out a mumbled yell and her vision went. One of the other soldiers came up to help Alex.

"How is she?" the soldier asked.

"I put pressure on it and I think she blacked out," Alex replied, his voice shaking. This was too much like what he had gone through not that long ago.

"Let's see if we can get her attention back," the soldier said calmly. "Her name is Jamie?"

Alex nodded. "Jamie Falcon." The soldier turned back to Jamie and started to tap her face, trying to bring her back to consciousness. After a while her eyelids fluttered, and then opened and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Jamie's breathing was still shallow and she was looking pale, but she was awake.

"There we are," the medic said confidently. "Now Miss Falcon, I need you to stay with me, alright?"

"Ye…yes," Jamie managed to whisper. The medic continued to check her vital signs and radio back to the other medics for what would be needed. Jamie tried to keep her eyes open, but it was so hard. She was in more pain than ever before and sleep would be the excuse she needed. Jamie managed to catch a glimpse of Alex's worried face next to her and she tried to take his hand, but all she could manage was to wave her fingers feebly. Luckily, Alex saw her fingers move and guessed what she wanted. He took her hand and squeezed gently. Alex could feel how weak Jamie was just by holding her hand. The other medics were on their way.

"Hold in there," Alex told her. "You'll be fine."

Jamie looked at him, her eyes fluttering. "Th…..thank…..you…" she managed before she sunk into painless unconsciousness. Alex continued to hold her hand and was allowed to go with her to the hospital before she was rushed into emergency surgery and he was sent to be checked over. Once the doctors were done with him, Alex decided he had better give Jack a call. Jack was surprised that Alex had been able to find another teenager who was in a similar situation to his.

"She was raised as a terrorist?" was Jack's continual question throughout the conversation.

"Yes, but she basically sabotaged their whole mission," Alex answered. "It's almost like she really wanted to get out."

"Well I suppose she would want to get out," Jack replied seriously. "You want to stop working for MI6, why would this be any different." Alex thought about that. It had never occurred to him that way. Alex told Jack he would stay at the hospital for a while to see how Jamie was doing and Jack said she would come over and then they could get something to eat. Alex hung up the phone and turned to see Ben Daniels coming towards him.

"Have you heard anything about how she is doing?" Alex asked immediately. Ben shook his head.

"I think they are still in the operating room. She was losing a lot of blood and with the proximity of the bullets to her heart… it could be dangerous," Ben said calmly. "It's a good thing that Dylan wasn't a very good shot though."

Alex had to nod in agreement with that. If either of Dylan's bullets had actually found their target, Jamie would already be dead. Alex took a deep sigh.

"I do have some good news though," said Ben as he took a seat on the bench near the phone. Alex looked at him and took a seat on the other side of the bench. "We caught Dylan. He wasn't doing a very good job at getting away. He's locked up now for terrorism and attempted murder and with Jamie's information he won't be getting out of prison anytime soon." Alex allowed himself a smile.

"Good, now Jamie won't have to worry about him coming after her." Alex took a minute. "He abused her, you know."

Ben looked surprised. "If so she did a very good job at standing up to him back there. I don't know if I would have been able to be as calm as she was in that situation. Seems like you and she are made of similar stuff, huh?"

"I guess so," murmured Alex. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Alex was enjoying the chance to just sit and relax. These past few days had been completely crazy. He was still trying to figure out what had happened. Finally, after a long while, one of the doctors came over to the pair of them.

"Mr. Daniels?" the doctor asked. Ben nodded and stood up.

"How is Jamie?"

"She seems to be doing well. We had a scare during the operation; her heart stopped for a fairly long period of time, but it came back online. Now we just have to keep a very careful eye on her, but she should be fine again in time."

Ben and Alex both gave sighs of relief. "Thank you, doctor. Is there any way we could see her?" Ben asked.

"Of course, but she won't be awake for a while. Between her own exhaustion and the anesthesia, she is fairly unresponsive. Follow me." And the doctor led them down a corridor to a room with the curtains drawn and an SAS soldier on guard. Ben nodded to the other soldier and led the way into the room.

Alex didn't know what he had expected to see, but his breath caught as he looked at her. There were tubes everywhere and an oxygen mask was strapped to her face. Jamie's left wrist was now in a cast and settled next to her. The monitors were beeping softly, letting the nurses know how she was doing and morphine dripped slowly into her system so the pain would be bearable. Alex approached the bed slowly. He could already see where bruises were appearing brightly against her pale skin. Dylan's damage would be long lasting, but would hopefully fade.

"She's a strong one if she can survive all of this," commented Ben as he looked at her. "Luckily the doctors feel that she has a strong chance." Ben clapped a hand on Alex's shoulder and left him with her. It wasn't until Jack came in that Alex moved from the chair by the bed. It was the first time that he had really seen someone so close to his age experience exactly what he had gone through so many times before. Not that he would ever wish this sort of life on anyone, but Alex realized that this was what he must have looked like after his run in with Scorpia's sniper. Alex jumped when there was a soft knock on the door. He relaxed quickly when he realized it was Jack.

"What are you doing in here? I thought you weren't hurt badly," said Jack as she came in. She looked him over before giving him a tight hug. "Why do you keep worrying me? I'll be gray before my time!" Alex smiled at that comment and disentangled himself from her hug.

"Jack, this is Jamie. The girl I was telling you about." Alex indicated the bed and Jack took a step closer to look at her. She put a hand over her mouth.

"She looks even worse than you did after the sniper," Jack said quietly and she reached out and moved a piece of hair off of Jamie's forehead. "You said her parents did this to her?" Alex nodded and anger burned in Jack's eyes. "Good thing she is out of that situation now. Hopefully she will be placed with someone who will care about her." Jack took a deep breath and turned her attention back to Alex. "I know you feel responsible for her, but I think you should get away from the hospital for now. How about we go get something to eat and then you can visit her again tomorrow?" Alex nodded and allowed Jack to steer him out of the room and off to dinner.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jamie was sitting up in her bed when Alex came into the room carrying a duffel bag. He paused in the doorway and watched as she typed furiously on the computer in front of her. It was good to see her being so interested in something instead of just being in pain. He took a step into the room and Jamie's head whipped up.

"Finally! It took you forever!" Jamie typed a few more keys on the laptop and then closed the lid and moved the small table away from her. "I am so looking forward to having real clothes again." Alex smiled and handed over the bag.

"Here you go. I had Jack come with me so that we would pick out something suitable." Jamie chuckled at that. Alex smiled as Jamie riffled around in the bag and pulled out the clothes and accessories he had brought.

"How did you know these are my favorite?" Jamie asked holding up a pair of jeans. Alex shrugged. "You better not be stalking me Alex Rider."

Alex balked. "What? It was just a lucky guess, miss paranoid."

Jamie laughed at that and continued to pull her things out of the bag. She let her mind wander back to the last week she had spent in the hospital. When she had finally, officially woken up, she hadn't had a clue where she was. She had turned her head to find Alex sitting in the bedside chair reading a magazine.

"Wh… what happened?" she had asked. Alex had nearly jumped out of his chair at the sound of her voice and then he moved to stand next to her bed.

"Dylan shot you, but we managed to get you to the hospital quickly enough. You were in surgery for a while and you lost a lot of blood. The casted your wrist while you were under as well." Alex spoke quickly but quietly, like he didn't want to force too much of the information on her at once.

"How long have I been out?" she had asked.

"Three days," Alex told her.

"Three days? I can't have been out that long!" Jamie exclaimed. She tried to sit up, but she winced and Alex pushed her gently back against the pillows.

"Like I said, you lost a lot of blood and your heart needed the time to recover." Alex took a breath and then continued. "Your heart actually stopped while you were in surgery because of the damage." Jamie had sat in a shocked silence. Dylan had actually accomplished what he had set out to do. He had temporarily killed her. It was a miracle.

"Did you find him?" Jamie whispered. She wouldn't meet Alex's eyes because she didn't want him to see the fear that resided there.

"He's in prison and he won't be getting out for a long, long time, especially with your testimony," Alex assured her and was surprised by the pure joy and excitement that spread along her face as she looked up at him. The most astounding was the relief in her eyes.

After that meeting, Jamie and Alex had gotten into a routine where he would bring her her things so that the hospital room would stop feeling so cold and empty. They spent a lot of time talking about school and comparing their lives a little bit. Neither of them brought up the mission or MI6 or terrorism or anything of that sort. They had gotten to know each other fairly well in that week. Jamie had even met Jack who had come in with Alex one afternoon. Jamie had like her from the beginning, which was rare for her. It was also nice to have another American around and Jamie continued to tease Alex about that.

Now Jamie pushed the covers down and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She gave Alex a look. "Are you going to stand there staring? I would like to change." Alex nodded and pulled the curtain so she would have her privacy. Getting dressed by herself was a little tricky because of the bandaging on the left side of her chest. Her chest was also still sore, but she wouldn't tell Alex that. The cast also wasn't doing anything to help the situation. Finally she called in one of the nurses and when she was dressed she sat down on the bed while the nurse opened the curtain and allowed Alex back into the room.

"You look a lot better now," commented Alex as he looked her over. Jamie raised an eyebrow because she was in her usual scruffy jeans with a tank top and open button down shirt with a pair of sneakers. It wasn't exactly a nice looking outfit. "You look more like yourself." Jamie just shrugged and stood up again.

"Are we going to MI6?" she asked as she put her hairbrush back in the duffel bag and zippered it up.

"Yeah, they want to formally close this case," Alex replied with mild dislike.

"Do you think they are going to chew me out?" Jamie asked a little timidly. She fingered the necklace Smithers had given her at the beginning of the mission. She was surprised she still had it.

"They better not. You're the one who really saved everybody by destroying the two ways to set off the bomb," Alex said truthfully. He bent down and grabbed the duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder. He then reached for Jamie's knapsack, but she had already beaten him to it. "You're still hurt, you shouldn't be lifting things," Alex reprimanded.

"I am not letting you carry everything yourself, Mr. Macho. I can take care of this myself," Jamie retorted and held open the door so Alex could go through. "Plus, only my left side is really injured, so I can carry things on my right." Alex just shook his head and led the way out of the hospital and down to MI6 headquarters.

Jamie enjoyed her time outdoors. The hospital staff hadn't even let her open a window for fear of her safety. She didn't think there was that much of a threat since Dylan was locked up. She smiled broadly; no one could hurt her now that Dylan was gone. Her parents had been locked up as well for their part in the scheme. She was a ward of the United States. She thought she should feel more upset or sorry, but she just couldn't summon the emotion. They had tortured her for so long, that this was finally her chance to be free. One of the soldiers who had been sent to watch her had told her that her parents, her mother especially, had been asking to see her. Jamie had told him that she did not want to see them. She wanted them to worry about her for once. She was setting a somewhat brisk pace; Alex was surprised at how well she was doing. He was pretty sure he would have been out of breath after his incident with the sniper. Alex led the way down the streets and as they got closer to the bank he noticed that Jamie wasn't looking as eager anymore.

"Are you nervous about what they will say?" Alex asked. Jamie looked at him, and then nodded.

"I haven't told anyone what my family was for years because I was afraid that they wouldn't believe me and Dylan would kill me for telling or that they would just arrest me as well and send me to jail even though I did not even want to be a part of this." Jamie took a breath. "I am happy that people believed me though."

"I know I was happy when some of my friends believed me when I told them I was a spy for MI6. It was like the weight of the world was taken off of my shoulders."

"Yeah, that is how it feels."

Finally they arrived outside the doors to the bank, and went inside. Jamie walked up to the counter and gave the woman her name and was told to take a seat. Jamie stared around the building again. It was only the second time she had been here and it had only been two weeks ago. It really felt like years had passed since she and her mother had come in here claiming that her father had been kidnapped. When the elevator doors slid open, Jamie turned and watched Mrs. Jones walk towards where she and Alex were sitting. Jamie stood up.

"Mrs. Jones," said Jamie in a slightly wavering voice.

"Hello, Jamie, how are you feeling?" asked Mrs. Jones.

"I am doing much better now."

"That is good to hear," Mrs. Jones replied. "Alex, I will come and get you in a few minutes. We would like to have a private word with Jamie first." Alex nodded silently and Jamie followed Mrs. Jones up to Mr. Blunt's office.

"Good afternoon Jamie. Take a seat," Mr. Blunt said as Jamie came into the room and Mrs. Jones closed the door behind her. Jamie sat down in the chair facing Mr. Blunt. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable at that point. She had no idea what was coming next and she also knew that she could disappear right now and no one except the two people in front of her would ever know exactly what had happened. Mr. Blunt continued reading the report in front of him, completely oblivious to Jamie's internal struggle. He finally put the report back into its manila folder and placed it in the bottom right corner of his desk. "We need to talk about the events that brought you and your family to us, Ms. Falcon." Jamie forced herself to meet his eyes.

"You and your mother came here claiming that your father had been kidnapped. Why were you actually here?" he asked sharply.

"My uncle, Dylan, had decided that he needed to have the government on our side and felt that having my mother gain access to this building would be a good way for him to gain inside information," Jamie thought for a moment. "Dylan also wanted you to think you had to protect me especially because he wanted to show he was better than Scorpia by getting rid of Alex."

"What sort of part did you play in this whole scheme?"

"I guess I was sort of the bait for Alex," Jamie began hesitantly. "And then Dylan needed my knowledge of computers so that he could get information, like floor plans and schematics. He needed me to run the program to complete his project and he needed me to put together the extra detonator, which I did not do."

"Yes, we have noticed that your loyalties seem to lie elsewhere," Mr. Blunt said. "The flash drive was very helpful once we figured out the protection on it. You are very skilled with computers. That could be dangerous in the wrong hands." Jamie squeezed her hands together even though it made her shoulder ache a little. Mr. Blunt thought for a minute. "Do you have many pictures of your early childhood?"

Jamie looked at him, completely surprised. "Well, no, not really. My mother and father were not really interested in taking pictures or displaying pictures."

"So you have never seen pictures of yourself as a young child? Possibly even from when you were born?" asked Mr. Blunt. He was very determined, but Jamie had no idea where his questions were leading.

"No. I don't think we had any pictures of when I was born," Jamie replied. "What does this have to do with what just happened?"

"Your parents were very worried about what we might tell you since they are no longer here to feed you their story," said Mrs. Jones. "Your mother wanted to visit you and tell you what liars we are."

"What do you know that I don't?" asked Jamie nervously.

"Do you want to see your biological mother?" asked Mrs. Jones. Jamie stared at her.

"Um… wait a minute. Are you saying I am adopted?" Jamie asked incredulously.

"In a matter of speaking, yes," replied Mr. Blunt. He opened the manila folder he had been looking at when she had come in and pushed the folder towards her. Jamie pulled the folder towards her and found a picture of a family. There was a mother, father, and a little boy. The mother was holding a small baby. "That is you in your mother's arms." Jamie thought back to her current mother. There were definite difference, but not so huge that Jamie had guessed ahead of time.

"What happened to them?" Jamie asked quietly, still staring at the picture. Drinking in the life she had not had.

"They were murdered. The house was set on fire one evening when you were only a year old. No one else survived," Mr. Blunt told her.

"How do you know it was murder then?" Jamie asked looking him in the eyes.

"There was a certain calling card found at the scene. Also, you made it out alive."

"Who murdered them?"

"Your present parents, and Dylan."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"What? Wait a minute. You are saying that the people who raised me, who are not my parents, killed my biological parents?" Jamie was absolutely incredulous. This couldn't be possible.

"Yes, we don't know why they took you in particular, but you were the only one saved from the house before it burned down," added Mrs. Jones.

Jamie stared down at the picture of her real family. "I wouldn't exactly say that they saved me. I could never do anything right. That was why Dylan beat me; he knew I did not actually belong." She took a breath. "What happens to me now?"

"Well, you do not have any biological relatives still alive, and we did not think that you wanted to go back to anyone that are connected with how you grew up," said Mrs. Jones. Obviously they had planned this out while she had been in the hospital. "We have two options for you. One, you get to go back to America and be placed in an adoption agency which could mean a lot of moving from town to town depending on who would foster you. The second option is that you stay here in London. You could be very useful to us. Jack and Alex have already offered to let you stay with them. You would have a permanent spot and you would definitely have our protection."

Jamie let the information sink in. "So if I stay here, you will use me the same way you use Alex, right?" The two adults did not answer, which confirmed Jamie's guess. She did not want to be forced to spy for MI6 like Alex was. But her only other option was to be passed from foster home to foster home. The moving around constantly would be worse than staying in one place, even if she did have to work with the government. It would be like righting any wrongs she had done while under Dylan's command. "I'll stay in England, if Alex and Jack are serious about having me."

Mr. Blunt nodded. "That will be perfect. We will have your things brought over from your house in America. The only other thing I must ask you is to not interfere with any government happenings via the internet."

"So I am not going to jail for helping Dylan?" Jamie asked quietly.

Mrs. Jones took the lead this time. "We feel that you have suffered enough with how your life has been growing up. You were also the main reason we could break up this section of the organization and the reason we now have Dylan in our custody. We think you have done your service."

Jamie nodded. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. She would not go to jail for something that Dylan had made her do. She was finally safe from him. Mrs. Jones stood up and led the way to the door. She held the door while Jamie left. When Jamie got off of the elevator, Alex was standing just across from it.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"It went interestingly. I found out some new information," she said as she leaned against the wall next to him. She hugged herself. "I also found out that you now have a new house guest. I guess they didn't want you to be alone on missions anymore."

Alex grimaced just a little. "I hope you know what you just got yourself into."

Jamie shrugged. "Could it really be as bad as what Dylan did to me for years?" She asked with raised eyebrows. "Also, I have you to tell me all about what I just got myself into."

Alex had to smile at that. "Come on, Jack couldn't wait to find out whether you would be joining us or not. We should go tell her so that she doesn't call me demanding to know before we get home for dinner." With that Alex and Jamie walked out of the Royal and General Bank and along the streets of London towards Alex's house. Jamie breathed a sigh of relief. She could now start over. She was in a totally new country with people who had never heard about her before. Dylan no longer controlled her. Even with MI6 pulling strings to get her and Alex to do their dirty work, life would be different, better, safer. Jamie smiled and looked forward to her new life.

Jamie and Alex didn't know that Dylan sat brooding in his cell. He wanted revenge and knew he would get it. Steel bars and concrete walls could not stop his rage. He would not be cheated by fourteen year olds. He would find a way out and make Jamie Falcon and Alex Rider pay for taking away his glory.

The End


End file.
